Rustler men win another state water polo title

A spectacular run to end what has turned out to be a spectacular

season has put the Golden West College men’s water polo team back on top

of the state rankings.

Last Saturday in Merced, the top-ranked Rustlers defeated Riverside,

7-2, in the state championship match for community colleges to win the

school’s unprecedented 17th state title.

It was Golden West’s first title since the 1997 playoffs, and came

under the guidance of first-year coach Brian Kreutzkamp, who was assisted

by longtime Rustler polo coach Ken Hamdorf.

“What a great weekend,” said Kreutzkamp, who previously coached for

six years at Newport Harbor High and played for Hamdork on Golden West’s

1991 state championship team. “We were anticipating a one-goal game

against Riverside, but the kids went beyond all our expectations. We

didn’t have any close tournament games.”

Golden West also defeated Diablo Valley College, 15-5, and Long Beach

City, 12-9, en route to the title.

Golden West and Riverside met six times during the season, with

Riverside winning a Sept. 21 match. From there, though, the Rustlers put

together a 23-game match win streak, which included five wins over

Riverside, three of which came in a tournament play, the fifth in

Saturday’s state final. The college won the following tournaments during

the season: Ventura, Merced, Citrus and Cypress, before winning the

Orange Empire Conference tournament, the Southern California regional and

the state crown.

In addition to winning the state title, Golden West freshman Brett

McCleave won the state individual scoring title with 124 total goals, an

average of 3.5 per game.

Golden West figures to be the team to beat again in 2002 as Kreutzkamp

had nine freshmen on the roster this season.

“This (title) raises the bar for our program, but I like it that way,”

Kreutzkamp said.